Gelato

Ice-cream, known as ‘Gelato’ in Italy is, without doubt, one of Italy’s gastronomic trademarks and holds a fascination for people of all ages and from all walks of life. The Italians are particularly renowned for the excellent offering of gelato throughout the country. With the fall of the Roman Empire and the advent of the Middle Ages almost all the frozen delights that had been the common heritage of many nations were lost, ‘ice cream or sherbert’ included. However in the lands of the Middle-East, they continued the preparation of drinks made from ice. And it was from here that ice-cream, still unknown in Europe, began again to spread from the Arab World to southern Europe. The new distribution of granite, sorbetti and gelati in Europe originated from Sicily, where the master ice-cream makers learned new techniques for the preparation of a more refined and lighter type of ice-cream. It was from here that this tasty dessert soon began to spread north from Naples to Florence, Milan and Venice, to arrive in Europe (France, Germany, England), with great success.

"A heartfelt thank you, Helena, for organising a truly memorable weekend for my husband and myself. We enjoyed every aspect of the 5* Gastronomy Experience from the wonderful meals to the pasta-making with Anna, tasting the difference between the Balsamic Vinegars and the truffle hunt. I could go on and on. Non of this would have been possible without your organisation, but what made it really special was your personal touch."

"Thank you once again VERY much for looking after us on our trip and for organising everything so perfectly. We spent a fantastic two days discovering the incredible food and the incredible cars. The fact that you accompanied us on our trip to Lamborghini made it even more special. The wives were also happy….which is the most important thing, even if they didn’t want to experience the exhilarating experience of a drive in a Lamborghini. Once again, thank you, thank you."

"What can I say but wow! We guys were supposed to be driving the Ferraris and our ‘gals’ were supposed to be cooking. It all got turned upside down – but in the best way possible. I am so glad you persuaded us to join in the cooking classes as they were great fun. We learnt so much, especially about the Balsamic Vinegars. I will never look at a bottle at the supermarket in the same way again. Thanks for making it a perfect couple of days for us. "

"On behalf of the group, I would like to thank you so much for organising one of the most fascinating, instructive and creative days ever. The day truffle hunting and cooking with truffles was a total revelation. Now we can really appreciate why truffles are so costly. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, Helena, we are so much ‘gastronomically’ richer for the experience, especially since we work in the restaurant industry. It was really special. Thank you again. "

"You have no idea how wonderful it was to surprise my wife with the 5* Gastronomy Experience and how thrilled she was with this kind of ‘full immersion’ into the food of Emilia. The organisation of all the Ham, Parmesan and Balsamic visits as well as the cookery courses was more than professional, because there was always some small detail and a personal touch that was prevalent throughout. It is an experience we will treasure forever. Thank you, thank you."

"Thank you so much for organising the ‘Mastering Gelato’ course for my family, which was fantastic. The accommodation with Cristina and Umberto was lovely and the views stunning. We are all ‘gelato’d’ out at home – our daughters are so enthusiastic and our kitchen has almost become a gelato-making laboratory! I wish we had stayed longer and done the full day course, but I guess it’s a great excuse to come back!"

"An incredible experience! Delicious food! Amazing wine! I had never heard of the Bologna wines, but I have to say they are a revelation. I have ordered 4 cases of Pignoletto from the wine cellar we visited and I really look forward to opening them and sharing them at my birthday party shortly. Brilliant organisation and a wealth of knowledge. Next time I’ll be back for a few more days for an altogether ‘deeper’ experience. Thank you."

"The Emilia experience was a rare treat. Your knowledge of the foods, products and wines of the region as well as your passion and enthusiasm are praiseworthy, Helena. The whole experience felt truly exclusive and getting to see that famous rock-group that my kids like at the Lamborghini factory and take a photo was just the best. We’ll be back to get our hands on those eggs and flour soon!"

"We just wanted to say how much fun we had doing the Classic Emilia cooking course and also wanted to thank you for organising everything, down to the last detail, with such short notice. We really learnt some amazing recipes and my Bolognese sauce or ‘Ragù’ has taken on a whole new lease of life. I would love to come back with a group of friends and organise a longer and more in-depth food experience. Keep us posted on what you’re doing! Thanks again."

"We know you organise lots of these various courses and experiences, but we wanted to thank you for making us make feel unique and special during our two day stay in the Bologna hills. Your knowledge of all the foods and products is amazing, but most of all, the attention to your guests is so personal it is almost as though you are personalising everything at every moment to how we are feeling and reacting. We are getting older, so don’t know if another European trip is on the cards, but we will certainly spread the ‘Yummy Italy’ word among our friends."

"On behalf of my group, thank you a hundred times for the perfect days we spent in Bologna and Modena. Driving the Ferraris into the hills was a totally exhilarating experience, eating the amazing food and (for those not driving) tasting the really delicious wines was wonderful. You are right, next time we’ll bring our wives so that they can learn how to cook the fantastic pasta! We’ll drive the cars again! See you soon!"

"Just to say how enlightening the ‘Taste of Yummy Bologna’ walking tour was. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and who knew that delicious pasta could be inspired by Venus’ navel and golden hair? The secret of Neptune in Piazza Maggiore was really funny too. Seriously though, this one day tour is a true full immersion of the best food in Bologna. Worth every penny and definitely a reason to come back and do a proper cookery course. Thank you."

"Organising my 50th birthday party in a Bolognese medieval tower was a risk that paid off. I am so glad that I listened to your advice. Thank you so much for organising a truly perfect event – a wonderful Bologna food tour, some amazing tastings, but most of all, all the tiny details that made it a truly memorable birthday weekend for my guests and myself."

"My colleagues and I are all self-confessed wine snobs, but we were so glad you persuaded us to explore and taste the local wines. They were surprisingly good and should definitely get more publicity. Thank you so much for organising the Parmesan and Balsamic Vinegar visits too and the food tastings with the wine. The Balsamic, above all, was a true revelation and perfect for wine snobs such as myself and the group!"

"That’s it. We are hooked on truffles. What an awesome experience! Gianluca, the truffle hunter was so friendly and his wonderful dogs were incredibly talented. I’m so glad that we managed to find some truffles too. Thank you for explaining everything so thoroughly. We’ll be back to learn to cook with them soon! "

Overview

Fast-forward several hundred years and tucked away in a small village in the Bologna countryside lies this exceptional gelateria run by Gabriele and Claudia. Both are passionate about their product and insist that nothing chemical in the form of preservatives, stabilisers or anything else for that matter, is used. Only natural flavourings, and, where possible, organic whole fruit, milk and cream are used.

Gabriele is a certified Italian Sommelier and applies his wine-tasting skills to the development of each and every flavour of ice-cream and sorbet. Although Claudia and Gabriele mainly produce the ‘classic’ flavours – there are 20 to choose from – occasionally one of Gabriele’s experimental flavours works its way onto their shelves –pear sorbet, lavender and potato ice-cream, from Pignoletto wine sorbet to a Malvasia ice-cream.

Gabriele and Claudia offer a half-day and full-day ice-cream making course adapted for you to utilise the skills you will learn at home with a home ice-cream maker.

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Half-Day Course (4-5 hours)

You will join Claudia and Gabriele in their ice-cream production laboratory where they will provide you with a brief history of the birth of the ‘sorbetto’ and its historical transformation into ice-cream. They will explain the basic functioning of your home ice-cream maker and how to use it to its full potential.

You will then learn the basic techniques of calculating the ingredients depending on whether you will be making a sorbet or ice-cream and how the quantity of sugar, flavourings, fruit, etc. differs according to the ingredients you are using.

You will learn how to prepare the base recipes for both sorbet and ice-cream and learn how they can be adapted to the ingredients and flavourings that you have available at home or which inspire you. Finally, you will get ‘ice-cream making’ and together with Claudia and Gabriele you will prepare two flavours: one sorbet and one ice-cream.

The day will end with you tasting the ice-cream and sorbet you have made and tasting the other flavours made in their workshop.

Once you have learnt these basic skills you can use your imagination at home to create any sorbets or ice-cream flavours that inspire you.

Minimum: 2 pax maximum 8 pax

Full Day (two half-days totaling 9-10 hours)

Day One

You will join Claudia and Gabriele in their ice-cream production laboratory where they will provide you with a history of the birth of the ‘sorbetto’ and its historical transformation into ice-cream. They will explain the basic functioning of your home ice-cream maker and how to use it to its full potential.

You will then learn the techniques of calculating the ingredients depending on whether you will be making a sorbet or ice-cream and how the quantity of sugar, flavourings, fruit, etc. differs according to the ingredients you are using and you will learn how to use a ‘refractometer’ – an ingenious device which gauges the amount of sugar in fruit. You will learn how to calculate the sugar content of your sorbet or ice-cream depending on the results of the refractometer.

You will then learn how to prepare the base recipes for both sorbet and ice-cream and learn how they can be adapted to the ingredients and flavourings that you have available at home or which inspire you. At the end of this initial session you will get ‘ice-cream making’ and together with Claudia and Gabriele you will prepare a basic sorbet.

Day Two

This second session will get you using the skills you have learnt in the first session to calculate the ingredients for both sorbets and ice-creams and, together with Claudia and Gabriele, you will produce a total of 4 additional sorbet and ice-cream flavours (predominantly the classic ones) and will learn how to make one of the more unusual flavours such as lavender. The day will end with you tasting the ice-creams and sorbets you have made and tasting the other flavours made in their gelateria.

Once you have learnt these basic skills you can use your imagination at home to create any sorbets or ice-cream flavours that inspire you.